Murder in Steeple Martin

Ex-actress Libby Sarjeant is producing and directing a play in her home village of Steeple Martin. She never expected her exciting new venture to lead to romance: and she certainly didn't expect mystery, intrigue, and murder. When a series of accidents culminates in murder being committed, Libby is compelled to find out if its roots are in the past or the more sordid present. A cast of local characters alternately helps and hinders her, including Fran the sceptical psychic and Sidney the guard cat.

Yawn

I had hopes for this book and it turned out to be really boring. The story line was weak. Their was much repetition so much so that I fell asleep an w..Show More »oke up an hour later and it was saying the same thing as when I dozed off. There are tons of long bits that are just a repeat of something that has been covered maybe 3 or 4 times.
Libby is really immature and should have been given an age in her 30's or 40's. She acted so silly just because she is interested in some man. The hops and theme of the play they were putting on at their Oast House theater was a bit boring.
The reader was good. This yawner might be good if you have insomnia. It will put you to sleep. It really needed a good editor to cut out the repetitions and pull the story together. I hate giving a bad review but had I found any reviews at all for this book I would have had something to go by. I don't recommend this book at all.

Murder at the Laurels

When old Eleanor Bridges dies on her birthday at The Laurels nursing home, no-one except her niece, Fran Castle, suspects anything. But when the will goes missing, and Fran's newly discovered relatives appear to be doing everything in their power to obstruct investigations, she enlists the help of her friend Libby Sarjeant. Together they uncover sinister happenings in the past - including greed and elements of witchcraft - that provide a host of motives for murder.

A BORE

This is a very hard book to listen to. It drags and drags.

Reviewed on January 03 2009
by Anne
(Daytona Beach, FL, United States)

Murder in Midwinter

Bella Morleigh is astonished when she is left a derelict theatre by her Aunt Maria, a relative she didn't even know existed. The Alexandria theatre has been in the family for years, and Aunt Maria was determined that it should stay that way. However, when Bella visits the place for the first time she finds more than she bargained for: a dead boy. Inspector Connell advises her to call in the help of local psychic Fran Castle.

Murder by the Sea

When a body is discovered on a rocky little island in the middle of Nethergate Bay, the media swoop on the seaside town. Soon an enquiring hack discovers that local resident Fran Castle has previously aided the police using her psychic abilities.

Brought into the investigation, Fran naturally asks her friend Libby Sarjeant, the middle-aged actress and crime-solver, to help, but they soon find themselves up to their knees in more mud and murder than they could possibly have anticipated.

Murder in Bloom: Libby Sarjeant Mystery Series

Floundering in the footsteps of a deliberately downplayed police enquiry, Libby manages to stir up more mud than the rotavator. When television personality Lewis Osbourne-Walker buys Creekmarsh Place, near Steeple Martin in Kent, Libby Sarjeant's son Adam is employed to help with the renovation of the garden. What he doesn't expect is to uncover a long buried skeleton.

Murder in the Green

Libby Serjeant and her friend Fran become involved in the strange rituals of the local Morris Men, when one of them is found dead on May Day and another seems to have vanished into thin air.

A Dud

I love English village mysteries and I wanted to like this---a mystery with a theme of Morris dancing should be a winner. It isn't. It's very talky ..Show More »in a trite way, and the plot unfolds at the rate of moss growing. Narration is quite good, but what a disappointment the story is. I know not everyone can be another Dorothy Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, or Agatha Christie, and I am thrilled with even 50% of the quality of one of these great classic British mystery writers. This wasn't even at 10%.

Murder Imperfect

Pantomime director Libby Sarjeant has her hands full combining direction and detection when she’s asked to look into threatening letters sent to Harry’s gay friend Cy. At first she believes it to be a simple case of prejudice, but soon Libby uncovers links to particularly nasty crimes in the past, revelations that have catastrophic effects.

Murder to Music: Libby Sarjeant Mystery

In her eighth case, amateur detective Libby Sarjeant and her psychic investigator friend Fran Castle are invited to look into a house that is reputedly haunted. For once, Libby can be as nosy as she likes without being accused of getting in the way of a police investigation. However, when they unearth 50-year-old graves in the gardens, the police are bound to cramp their style. Someone alive today doesn’t want them interfering either, and their lives are in danger as they try to unravel the mystery of a ghost who plays Debussy.

Very enjoyable

I've not read any of Lesley Cookman's books in print form as only found out about her via Audible.

Murder at the Manor: Libby Sarjeant Mystery

Steeple Martin sleuth Libby Sarjeant and her partner Ben are hosting a writers’ weekend reunion at Ben’s family home, The Manor, when a body is discovered in the grounds. Even though Scotland Yard is on the case, Libby feels impelled to investigate a murder on her home patch. Their enquiries take Libby and her psychic investigator friend Fran Castle to historic Dorset, where they uncover a complex web of writers’ jealousies that has further tragic consequences before Libby uses all her wiles to get at the truth.

Murder in the Monastery: Libby Sarjeant, Book 11

The eleventh book in the Libby Sarjeant series of British murder mysteries which features a retired actress as the female sleuth and is based in the picturesque village of Steeple Martin. Libby Sarjeant is invited to look into the provenance of a jewelled Anglo-Saxon reliquary which has appeared on a website. The nuns at St Eldreda's Abbey are curious, as it apparently contains a relic of St Eldreda herself.

Not so much a cozy as a good sedative

No. While I am a fan of the British cozy/tea cake genre, this was so boring. i did not finish the book.